The National Football League’s sponsorship revenue grew 12% year-over-year from $1.62 billion to $1.8 billion in the 2021-22 season and spiked from $1.47 billion in 2019, according to a study by IEG.

NFL franchises only brought in an additional 4% of revenue for rights fees, while league-wide sponsorship spending grew 23%.

IEG global managing director Peter Laatz says the sponsorship boom is “coming from emerging categories.”

• Led by Microsoft’s roughly $100 million per-year deal, technology sponsorships brought in the most money for the season.
• Sportsbooks, casinos, and lottery sponsorships brought in the second-highest dollar figure, with fees growing 140%. DraftKings, FanDuel, and Caesars — which purchased naming rights to the New Orleans Superdome for $138 million — signed five-year deals to become the league’s official sportsbooks with a combined worth of nearly $1 billion.
• Alcoholic beverages brought in the third-highest amount, with Anheuser-Busch paying more than $250 million per year and Diageo contributing $30 million each year. The league’s wine and champagne rights are still up for sale.

The NFL also spent its first full season with Hyperice, signed a new partnership with Cisco, and expanded its Verizon partnership for 10 years.

Future Revenue Opportunities

One emerging category that hasn’t been seen in the league is cryptocurrencies — the league has held discussions about potential opportunities there, but is still skeptical of the market.

Additionally, for the first time, 18 NFL clubs have the opportunity to grow their revenue through 26 international markets including Canada, Mexico, and Germany.

Microsoft boasted strong earnings for the fiscal quarter ending Dec. 31, 2021, as its mega-acquisition in gaming looms.

The tech giant posted revenue of $51.7 billion, up 20% year-over-year. Net income climbed similarly, up 21% from last year to $18.8 billion.

While supply chain issues slowed Xbox sales, the company still showed gains in gaming.

• Xbox console sales rose 4% from the same period last year, when supply of the devices was also quite limited.
• Xbox content and services revenue jumped 10% year-over-year.
• Revenue for Microsoft’s entire More Personal Computing segment, which includes its gaming, Surface hardware, and search products, grew 15% to $17.5 billion.

Acquisition Blizzard

The earnings provide a further lift to Microsoft after it agreed to acquire gaming giant Activision Blizzard in a $68.7 billion, all-cash deal. Microsoft ended 2021 with $125.4 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments. 

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer assuaged gamer concerns last week when he said that the company would honor previous agreements made by Activision Blizzard and make the next three “Call of Duty” games available on Sony PlayStation as well as Xbox. 

Microsoft, however, is not obligated to continue working with its gaming rival on the hugely popular game series beyond Activision Blizzard’s existing deals.

Signa Sports United generated $278 million in revenue in Q4 2021, a 10% increase compared to the same period the year prior. 

The German bicycle and tennis equipment retailer attributed the growth in revenue to strong consumer demand across its verticals, despite bike supply shortages. 

• Signa reported 5.1 million active customers in Q4 2021, a 32% increase year-over-year. 
• Full-year revenue reached $983.7 million, up 24% compared to FY2020. 

In June 2021, Signa went public via a merger with Yucaipa Acquisition Corporation, a blank-check company led by Pittsburgh Penguins part-owner Ronald Burkle. Signa raised $484 million during the transaction, valuing the company at $3 billion. 

Signa took advantage of the fresh capital in December 2021 with the acquisitions of online cycling store Wiggle and Tennis Express. Wiggle has annual sales of roughly $500 million. 

Plans to Expand in the U.S. 

Signa is reportedly close to securing an investment worth more than $370 million from a group that includes Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. 

The funding would go toward expanding Signa’s presence in the U.S.

Signa earns roughly 10% of its total revenue in the U.S., primarily from its acquisitions of Tennis Express and Midwest Sports in February 2021.